How did we get here? Everywhere we look there are zombies staring into screens scrolling up and down and swiping left to right. In this day when tools are meant to help us make life easier, we’re letting our smartphones rule our lives, argues Gasant Abarder in a new #SliceofGasant column.
Abarder, who recently launched his book, Hack with a Grenade, is among the country’s most influential media voices. Catch his weekly column here, exclusive to Cape {town} Etc.
There is a character in the Muslim faith called Dajal. A one-eyed chap who will claim to be the Messiah at the end of the world as we know it in his bid to mislead believers. His arrival will coincide with the second coming of Jesus – or Nabie Isa as he is revered in Islam.
Now you must remember that Muslim schools, or Madressahs as we know them, on the Cape Flats, were all fire and brimstone. There were a few notable exceptions of teachers that could actually inspire you. The vast majority of Muslim teachers made you aware of the list of things that will see you go to heaven, but mostly what acts will see you burn in hell. It was the same during lectures at mosque.
We were warned about Dajal and back in the 80s – before the advent of cellphones – the humble television, playing only TV1, TV2 and TV3, was this guy. Too much TV watching would put you under Dajal’s spell, they warned. But I carried on watching Brakanjan, Pinnochio and He-Man, and the Masters of the Universe. In simulcast for English translation on Radio 2000. Nothing happened.
I pause now to confess: I am addicted to Twitter. Since finding this evil platform I have been hooked and boy, oh boy, when I got that blue tick that verified my account I felt like a made man in the Sicilian Mafia. An untouchable.
When cellphones and later smartphones arrived, it changed our lives.
We can now spend 24 hours a day sparring on Twitter, talking smack on Facebook (eek!), boasting on Instagram and corporate boasting on LinkedIn. Then there’s WhatsApp, Telegram and more. We’re slaves to our smartphones. Zombies scrolling up and down or swiping left or right.
It led to the inevitable question: is my smartphone Dajal and am I under his spell? Nogal with added features like extra-long battery life, four lenses and a gazillion pixels of colour.
Nah, of course not. A smartphone – like a television – is a device to enhance your work and life. A great tool but nothing more.
But, to me, it may as well have been Dajal because I had been firmly under its spell until recently. Before my feet touched the ground when I woke I would scroll endlessly through the news events of the day and read the banter. Part of the territory, I would convince myself.
But it turned me into a zombie. That old saying of the tail wagging the dog? Well, I was allowing this accessory to run my life. I allowed it to set off a hamster in my head that prevented me from staying in the moment, listening and giving another human being my full attention.
I kid you not! When my kid drew a picture of my family I was the dad depicted with a smartphone in his hand. I would have whole conversations with people while scrolling through my Twitter feed. I used to drive while WhatsApping and tweeting. Heck, I was even on Twitter while breaking my fast during Ramadan!
Something had to give and I had to break this bad habit because I was on the road to being a lousy friend, husband, father, sibling and son. How did I do it? I flipped the script. My smartphone is just a tool. I now use it as a training tool to stay in the moment. Being present and home with the lights on.
I am now able to do the unthinkable. During conversations, the phone stays in my pocket and I’m able to ignore the pings and vibrations. I put my phone away in the cubby hole or those compartments in the door when I drive. I deliberately schedule two hours of cooking and ignore the calls, WhatsApp and Twitter notifications. I do the same when I’m training for about an hour and a half. And lo and behold, when it’s date night, I leave my phone at home. It is the most adult thing I’ve ever done and I’m proud of myself.
If you’re calling and I don’t answer: tough luck! Try a carrier pigeon or if it is really an emergency you will reach my next of kin. But I refuse to be a slave to my phone. People have noticed the change and that is the best affirmation. It is the greatest gift I have given myself. And it has taken me further away from falling under Dajal’s spell.
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Picture: Unsplash
